Free Trains to Air Show Will Return in 2017

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI—One out of every 16 visitors at the Rhode Island Air National Guard Open House and Air Show last weekend got there by rail.

There were 3,800 train riders in all, according to the state Department of Transportation, each who enjoyed a fare—and traffic—free ride to the air show at Quonset State Airport.

That's enough people to convince officials to run the free train service again next year, the DOT announced Monday.

"We are very pleased with the results of our first year of train service to the Air Show, and will begin working with our partners this fall to begin planning for 2017 with the goal of bringing it back, contingent on MBTA providing the service," RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr. said. "In Rhode Island, we run well below the national average for transit utilization, even though we're the second most densely populated state in the country. We've got a lot of work to do to enhance our transit system, and special events like the Air Show are a great way to introduce people to transit while offering a choice that reduces traffic congestion - one of the historic issues associated with this great event."

Rhode Island's transit utilization rate is 2.9 percent, well below the national rate of 5 percent, Alviti said.

The DOT offered three round trip trains to the air show with stops in Providence, T.F. Green Airport in Warwick and Wickford Junction in North Kingstown.

Based on numbers released by the DOT, 60,000 people attended the air show over the weekend, which is a strong turnout considering the first day was cut short due to rain. About 1,400 people rode the train on Saturday, June 11. Twenty-four-hundred rode on Sunday.

The event was also without the top act after a United States Air Force Thunderbirds jet crashed (the pilot ejected and was not seriously hurt). The crash forced the unit to stand down during the subsequent investigation.

According to a DOT news release, "future planning may consider the addition of more trains and different departure times. RIDOT will work with the many partners who made the trains possible - the R.I. National Guard, the National Guard Association of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, the Quonset Development Corporation, Seaview Railroad, Amtrak and the MBTA - to determine the size and scope of the Air Show trains in 2017."